CUPA-HR eNews

Impact of Economic Crisis on Staffing and Compensation Planning
Survey Results Now Available
February 18, 2009

In recent months, CUPA-HR has received many, many calls and e-mails from institutions looking for information regarding staffing and compensation planning to help address the impact of the current economic crisis. In response to a lack of data on what actions colleges and universities are planning or taking, we decided to conduct a survey of our member institutions. As of February 11, 316 institutions had completed the survey.

Survey respondents were asked if their institutions were considering, among other things, hiring freezes, unpaid furloughs, reductions in force, delays in salary increases, wage freezes, paid time off in lieu of salary increases and reductions in the use of incentive bonus plans.

Some findings:
In the area of staffing –

• The most-used methods for keeping costs down are delayed hiring and hiring freezes, and, for non-exempt staff, control of overtime.
• Unpaid furloughs and reductions in force are NOT currently being considered by the majority of respondents.

In the area of compensation –

• The most-used method of keeping costs down is salary freezes.
• The majority of respondents indicated that the salary increase pool for the current fiscal year has not been reduced from what it was originally (before the economic downturn). However, about 20% indicated that they will be reducing the increase pool percentage going forward.

To see complete results for this CUPA-HR pulse survey, log in to the Knowledge Center, highlight the "Library" menu item, select "Surveys/Reports" and click on "Impact of Economic Crisis on Staffing & Compensation Planning: A CUPA-HR Pulse Survey."